This Blog dedicated to all viewers to share and try my recipes, to enjoy MY HOMEMADE cooking and baking from Middle East 2Ur house to all food lovers. 10Q very much 2all because viewing my BLOG, HAVE A FUN and PLEASE COME AGAIN. Shukran Jazilan.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Tabouleh, tabbouleh or tabouli is an Arabic dish famous in Lebanon, Syrian, Palestine and Jordan. It is often used as part of appetizer. Tabouleh primary ingredients are burgul), finely chopped parsley, mint, tomato, scallion and other herbs with lemon juice, olive oil and various seasonings.

Dressing:-
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt to taste
Rinse the cracked wheat several times and set aside to soak in the water for 20 minutes or longer.
Chop the parsley very, very fine (hahhah PLZ Do not use a blender lol..).
Add remaining ingredients and squeeze the wheat by handfuls, removing all the water, and add to the salad. Pour on the dressing and mix well.
Serve accompanied by crisp leaves of lettuce to be used to scoop up the salad.

Place cabbage in a pot of boiling water and cook for a few minutes to soften leaves.
Remove from water and with a knife, loosen leaves from the base.
If the leaves are still not soft, boil again for a few minutes.
When all leaves are cut free, trim the bottom portion of the thick rib from each leave (about 2 inches), leaving a large circle that will be used to wrap the filling. Note - If the leaves are very large, they may be cut in half before use.

To make filling-

Place all remaining ingredients in a bowl and thoroughly mix.
Place some filling on the wide end of a cabbage leaf and roll, tucking in the ends in the process.
Continue until all leaves are finished.
Cover bottom of saucepan with cabbage ribs and any extra leaves.
Arrange rolls side by side.
Mix all the sauce ingredients.
Pour over cabbage rolls, add a little extra water if you needed so that the liquid comes up at least half way up the pan.
Place plates on top of the cabbage rolls to press them down.
Bring to a boil, over medium heat for 1 hrs or until very tender and soft.
Serve hot.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Kousa Mehshi (Stuffed Zucchini) is an Arabic main dish spread in the mediterranean region . I omit the mince beef/ lamb, this simple and tasty dish makes a great vegetarian option for the Ramadhan diet.
I learned to make this dish while visiting my sister in-law in Syria. She is a truly amazing woman; she excels at whatever she puts her hands to, and of course she is a fantastic cook! Since I’m a beginner at speaking Arabic and in the kitchen involved a lot of pointing, gesturing, nodding, and excitement when the other person finally understood what was being communicated. But that just made it all the more memorable. In Syria, the zucchini is a lot smaller than the zucchini typically found here (a 6” zucchini there is pretty big!), so at first I wasn’t sure how to make this dish with our jumbo-sized zucchini.
Then a solution struck me, and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it sooner – just cut the zucchini into smaller pieces before hollowing it out! It worked brilliantly. Also, just in case you have a bounty of other vegetables from your garden you need to use up, you can use this recipe to make stuffed eggplant, tomato and peppers.

Hallow the zucchini, wash well and set aside.
In a large saucepan combine rice, spring onion, spices, garlic, parsely, corainder, lemon juice, dry mints, MAGGI cube, black pepper, arabic mixed spices, olive oil, cinnamon powder and tomato.
Stuff the zucchini with the rice mixture.
Fill each zucchini shell about three-quarters full with the rice mixture and arrange in a casserole with a single layer.
Cover with sauce mixture.
Place plates on top of the zucchini to press them down.
Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 hour or until zucchini and rice are very tender and soft.
Divide among serving dishes and pour over broth.
Serve with bread and yoghurt

Dolma/ Warak Enab/ Yabrak or Yalanji is a family of stuffed vegetable dishes in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and surrounding regions, including Turkey, Egypt, Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, the Balkans, Greece, Iraq, Iran, Northern Sudan, Central and South Asia. Perhaps the best-known is the grape-leaf dolma, which is more precisely called yabrak, Yalanji(Arabic: يلنجي )or Warak enab mehshi (in Arabic ورق عنب محشي) is a same.
It's an Arabic popular dish of Lebanese origin. The plate is composed by vine leaves stuffed with rice, principally. Yalanji/ dolma/ warak Enab/ Yabrak is an appetizer dish mostly served at Lebanese, Syrian and Jordanian famous restaurants.
The stuffing may or may not include meat. Stuffed Grape Leaves can be served as a side dish or a main dish. At restaurants it is usually served as a side dish, but when cooked at home it is mostly considered as a main dish. Warak enab is famous in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt and Iraq.
Here is a step by step my recipe on how to make a vegetarian warak enab.
Cinnamon and mint seasoning make this version of a popular eastern Mediterranean food typically Lebanese and Syria.

Dip/ soften the vine leaves in boiling water for 1 minute, remove and set aside.
Wash rice and mix with all teh ingredients.
Open the vine leaves on a board one at a time.
Put 1 tsp of the mixture on the center of each leave, fold in 2 sides to the middle then roll tightly to form a cylinder about three inches long and somewhat thicker than a cigar.
Repeat until finish all the leaves or the stuffing.

Place the vine leave in the bottom of a saucepan, then put the stuffed leaves on top, Put whole garlic.
Sprinkle with MAGGI cubes and add water.
Use a plate to fit inside the saucepan as a lid, to stop the vine leaves from opening.
Cook on slow heat for about 1 hour when the leaves are well cooked.
Remove vine leaves carefully from pot/pan.
Cool fingers in cold water to facilitate handling the hot rolls.
Arrange on platter.
Serve hot/cold.

"Basbousa", is a typical middle-eastern dessert with Semolina as a main ingredient. Also, unlike the traditional way of making cakes, this is unique as it uses a sugar syrup topping for a plain cake, which in fact induces the softness, flavor and sweetness to the cake. Also, almonds and lemon juice are an important part of the traditional recipe. As I'm not too huge a fan of lemon flavor in my cakes, I cut down on the lemon juice a little and added Rose essence instead as I thought it would give a nice aroma and a mildly sweet taste that would accentuate the recipe. The result, a perfectly moist and healthy cake with a distinct taste, flavor and texture. They love to eate basbousa with turkish/ arabic/ khaleej coffee after a meal. They are just enough to add that extra "umph" to a meal. The syrup is not too sugary because you can control how much sugar/ syrup you need, but sweet enough to satisfy a sweet tooth.Syrup2 1/4 cups sugar1 1/2 cups water1 lemon juice1 tbsp lemon zest1 tbsp rose water1 tbsp orange blossom waterPrepare the syrup first.Dissolve sugar in water in a medium saucepan. Add lemon juice, lemon zest, orange blossom water and rose water, bring to a boil. Once the syrup begins to boil reduce heat and allow to slowly boil for about 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Cake Ingredinets2 cups semolina1/2 cup fresh milk1 cup sugar1 stick butter, softened1 cup plain yogurt1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract1 tablespoon baking powder1 tablespoon baking soda2 eggsblanched split almondsPreheat oven to 180-200C degrees. Lightly grease and flour a 9x12 baking dish. Cream together butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add eggs and vanilla.In a separate bowl, combine semolina, baking powder, and baking soda, slowly add to butter and egg mixture. Stir in milk and yogurt. Pour mixture into baking dish and smooth with spoon. Take a butter knife and make diagonal lines from left to right and complete to make a diamond shapes. Place an almond in the center of each diamond. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove cake from oven and pour syrup over cake until no more can be absorbed. Allow to cool for 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Freeke also spelled freekeh, freeka or freeki is a famous main dish in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. Try this wonderful freeke recipe
Freeke (sometimes spelled frikeh) or farik (Arabic: فريكة‎) is a cereal food made from green wheat that goes through a roasting process in its production. In Syria Freekeeh will be serve with roasted lamb/beef, shakriya (yogurt suop with meat and potatoes) and pine nuts is once of my favourite family dishes.

Heat 1 tbsp of ghee over medium-high heat. When the oil starts to ripple, add the meat and let it brown on one side before stirring it (about 3-5 minutes). Stir the meat and add just enough water to cover (about 1L+-), then add the cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, black pepper and bay/laurel leave. Bring it up to a boil, then put the lid on, and turn it down to a simmer. Cook for about 45-60 minutes or until the meat is tender, stirring occasionally and adding water if necessary.Reserve stock
and set meet aside

Put 2 tbsp ghee in the casserole under meduim fire,fry the Freeke corn (after it's well rinsed), until it's dry. Add all the spices and keep stirring for few minutes. Add the mutton stew to the Freeke corn. When the stew starts to boil, cover the pan, decrease the fire to low, and cook for 30 minutes until the freeke corn is well done.

Fry the almonds and pine nuts until they get a golden color. When the Freeke is ready poutit into the serving dish and add the roasted mutton over it and sprinkle with pine nuts.